A would-be robber who chased down and attacked a man in a Glenrothes street has been spared jail.
Bryan Horne was high on Diazepam when he targeted a man as he walked along Queen Margaret Drive listening to music on his headphones.
Horne put his victim in a headlock and demanded money.
But he walked away when his victim opened his bag and revealed he had no cash, only four tins of beans and some crisps.
Horne, 38, appeared for sentencing at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, having admitted an assault and attempted robbery on February 19 this year.
Solicitor David McLaughlin told the court: “He can’t believe that he did something like this.”
Sheriff Robert More said: “Well, it is a very curious incident so I can understand that.”
‘Scum of the earth’
The court heard Horne, from Glenrothes, had just found out his long-term partner had been cheating with him, with an associate he was with.
He was involved in a heated exchanged with the other man when he spotted his eventual victim.
Horne could not explain why he decided to target him, the court heard.
The man noticed Horne walking at pace behind him.
He then felt a forearm strike the back of his head.
A witness heard the man shout something like “scum of the earth.”
Horne pursued the man and caused him to fall the ground.
He said he was in a “bad way” and needed cash.
He then put his arm around the man’s neck but did not choke him.
He showed Horne what was in his bag and the attacker slunk away.
Bad influence
Mr McLaughlin said Horne, who was remanded for several weeks at Perth Prison, had since taken steps to move away from a group that appeared to have had a bad influence on him.
“There are alternatives to a custodial sentences available,” said the solicitor.
“These could stop him from slipping back into his old ways of life.”
Sheriff More told Horne: “Given the amount of time you have spent in custody and that your (background) report is quite good, I do identify an alternative to custody in this case.”
Horne was placed on supervision for a year.
He will be electronically tagged and monitored as part of an 80-day restriction of liberty curfew.
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